Barbara's New Stamps from the SECC

[Phree]

Well after shaking the rust of my brayer, this is what I've been doing with the new stamps I got from Clarity at the SECC last week.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/Phree_/DSCF0308.jpg

[Janiceb966]

I love how you've altered the colours from the outy part to the inny part Phree - it's a beautiful card, well worth derusting your brayer!!

[Julie]

That is gorgeous !

[von 2]

That's lovely, Phree. I do like the silhouette stamps.

[Susan W]

It's lovely, I really like the colours. Made me want to try brayering again!

[JAMMY]

Lovely card.

[LynneH]

It's so nice to see your work again Phree. It's beautiful!

[budgie]

Simply beautiful!

[Dips]

Excellent card, Phree, it's lovely to see you crafting again.

[Summer]

Thats a Lovely card Phree, didn't take you long to get back into the swing of it. Really like the stamp images and how you have used them.

[agelesscraft]

Beautiful card great design

[emandc]

Lovely - thanks for showing your beautiful card

[Phree]

Thanks for the kind comments, I was watching Barbara this morning with these stamps on CAC - she did that same demo at the SECC - amazing how the esspresso ink pad changed the tone of the eggplant, and very effective.

[Truly]

Love it Phree xxx

[morgana123]

Absolutely beautiful card Phree - even if I dusted off my brayer I could never get such stunning results.

[craftycat]

Lovely card Phree. I liked the trick with the Espresso pad too. Really enjoyed both shows today

[Mitzi]

Lovely card. It's the sort of thing I aspire to make, then I end up just sticking kit bits on cards instead. It would probably take me 100 "wrong" attempts to end up with one that worked.

[Phree]

With the new spodge mat it really doesn't need to take lots of attempts Mitzi, I bought one of those at the SECC and it makes is a lot easier to load the right amount of ink onto the brayer and to achieve a smooth blended look.

[jr77]

I love that card Phree.

[Rainbowwand]

Great card Phree, didnt buy anything from Barbara's stall at glasgow, dont know how i managed to resist really, perhaps the fact that i was nearly spent up had a lot to do with it lol, drat missed the splodge mats!, how do you find you get on with it?

[Mitzi]

Thanks for the explanation, Phree. What's the difference between a splodge away mat and a non-stick crafting mat? (Although I have to confess to using oven liner from the pound shop as I find non-stick craft mats far too expensive.)

[JSC]

I wish I could get results like that well done

[Phree]

Thanks again for the kind comments. To answer the questions about the splodge mat - yes it's worth it - very worth it IMO. I like to think I mastered (well sorta mastered) Barbara's brayering techniques a few years back - I say sorta mastered cuz I would never have said I was up to her standard, but I had a decent grasp of the basics and could turn out a fairly respectable attempt at a card made in that style. However the issue always was, for me at least, over inking and also bleeding in of colour so as at the inner edge (nearer the center of the card) the colour would bleed away to nothing very gently. Barbara has always made that look so easy, but you have to do the wheelie to soften the ink at the edge of the brayer and you also have to be brave to taken enough ink off the brayer onto scrap paper or you end up over-inked and loose all that lovely subtle effect.

Anyhooooooo the splodge mat......yep it's odd - whatever the heck it's made from does react in an unusual way with the ink. Most "plasticy" type surfaces repel water - making it bead into droplets - think about that - with ink it would mean an uneven distribution of the ink over the brayer giving you a speckled look But the spodge mat seems to suck up the ink and hold int an wonderfully even but thin film of colour. This makes it sooooo much easier to avoid over inking and also to acheive that gradual fade away of colour towards the edge of the brayer. I got the 12 x 12 mat - um around £12 quid I think but not sure anyhoo..... money very well spent IMO and I would recommend it to anyone who loves Barbara's style, but has until now struggled to replicate the techniques she has used in the past........ooooooo and another thing..... it makes a fabulous reversing stamp.